The present invention relates to building materials in particular to attachment of building siding boards on building surfaces. The invention may be used with any kind of building siding materials, such as wood, composite, PVC, fiber cement or plastic. Especially the invention is suitable for attaching fiber cement or composite boards, but the invention may be used with other siding materials also. The invention may also be used with siding boards where a shaped foam insulation board is used under the siding and even with siding boards where the insulation foam is prefixed behind the boards.
The selection of building siding materials today is vast. The siding may be wood, vinyl, plastic, composite, fiber cement or other materials. It is customary to attach siding boards on the building surface by nailing or stapling. Fiber cement laps are usually nailed with galvanized nails. Nailing creates problems when the insulation foam under the board is thick because then the nailing may not provide enough support. Under strong winds the wind may get under the boarding and tear the boards off. As several boards are usually attached to one large insulation board, wind tear may destroy a large part of the building siding when the insulation board becomes even partially damaged.
There are various publications disclosing clips and mounting devices mainly for vinyl and wood siding panels.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,933 discloses a clip attached to the upper side of vinyl siding on the building structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,555 discloses another clip to attach upper side of a vinyl siding.
US Patent Application Number 2007/0056238 discloses a siding attachment strip containing a hook portion attached to an elongated strip element.
US Patent Application Number 2009/0007517 discloses a clip to attach the uppermost siding board.
US Patent Application Number 2010/0132295 discloses a clip for attaching vinyl sidings.
US Patent Application 2010/0251655 discloses a U-shaped clip for wood sidings.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,408,786 discloses U-shaped clip containing cushioning material adapted for mounting the upper edge of a siding member.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,308,129 discloses a Z-shaped clip for attaching shingles.
US Patent Application 2006/0272258 discloses a break-away plastic clip to align lap siding during installation.
The flaw with the currently available attachment methods is that during high winds, storms and hurricanes the siding laps may become detached and great damage to the building structure may result. Furthermore, there are currently no methods or means available to apply for more secure attachment of siding boards; and specifically so when a shaped insulation board is used beneath the siding boards. The shaped insulation board is disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 13/029,336 and Ser. No. 13/450,165, both of which are incorporated in their entirety herein by reference.
The instant invention provides a solution to this and other problems arising from the currently used practices. The instant invention may be used with or without an insulation board and with any kind of siding boards.